Welcome to the Inglenook at Cold Spring School Library...a cozy place by the fire to discuss children's literature and the wonder of reading and learning.

Monday, May 05, 2008

News From the Library--May 5, 2008

Hello, Mrs. Piggle Wiggleby Betty McDonald

A Book Review by Amanda and Olive

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--Finding a "critter" and keeping it as a pet is something all children like to dream about. Anne Mazer's lovely book The Salamander Room is the musings of one little boy and his mother about what it would be like to have a salamander as a pet. The gentle back and forth between them has a rhythmic quality and the illustrations are magical. The interesting thing about this book is that it quietly explains why bringing a wild creature into the house as a pet would be an almost impossible task and that it is best left to daydreams.

First Grade--Poor BlabberMouse. He just cannot keep a secret. After annoying his friends and family to no end a solution must be found. His classmates and teacher come up with a novel approach and one that first graders thought was a very good idea. (And not something they had ever though of before....) True Kelley's sweet book gives a great example of creative solutions to sticky personal problems.

Second Grade--There is nothing like a classic fairy tale. I like bringing out a book and listening to the students say they have heard it before or seen it as a movie and then find that there is truly something different about having a story read to you. This week I treated second graders to Paul O. Zelinsky's gorgeous version of Rumplestiltskin. What a strange and odd tale this is but it is captivating and attention was paid by all.

Third Grade--to "celebrate" STAR testing this week, we read Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler and Kevin O'Malley. This is a very funny take on the whole achievement testing phenonemon in which the teachers and administration are more nervous about the test taking than the students.

Fourth Grade--Fourth graders finished their illustrations for their tall tale Keynotes and next week we will start to put the project together.

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders didn't have library this week because of the STAR tests.

Sixth Grade--We finished our drafts of the blog posts for the gods and goddesses project. Their plates have been fired and I will photograph them now. Next week they will make their final postings with their research and a photo of their plate. Stay tuned....

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At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold,
that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the
better. ~~Barack Obama (from a speech to the American Library Association June 25, 2005)

About Me

I graduated from UCLA in 1970 with a degree in Art History and then earned my California Teaching Credential from UCLA in 1972. After teaching 4th grade in the inner city for 2 years I moved to Santa Barbara and founded the Santa Barbara Center for Educational Therapy. In 1989, with a desire to return to the public schools, I was fortunate to be hired as a school librarian and I'm starting my 20th year at Cold Spring School.
I have always been a bookworm and love teaching so this is the perfect job for me!